Jayb,

"...He said he wanted the quran taught to Australian children in Australian schools. Albeit in the guise of teaching school children Arabic as a second language."

No he didn't.

What he did say was: "...All Muslim children will learn and be well-versed in Standard English and Quranic Arabic...Majority of children will learn Urdu language because it is a lingua franca of the migrants from the sub-continent..."

"Quranic Arabic" is another term for Classical Arabic - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Classical_Arabic

Iftikhar did not state that he wanted the Quran taught in Australian state schools.....

So again, your question is a strawman in its connection with the opening post of this thread.

Constance,

Puerile response.

Any sponsorship not only aids an individual, it also assists and empowers an entire community in myriad ways.

But you already know that.

You're just taking a pedantic swipe.

Grow up.

Hi Poirot,

Thank you for focussing on issues.

Classical Arabic (Quranic Arabic) would be, I suppose, somewhat equivalent to Middle English, or the English of Shakespeare. I have no qualms about people learning any language they wish, in their own time, even Middle English - after all my wife was Ngarrindjeri, and we contributed a bit to work-books in the language.

But whether any language should be taught using state funding, in school time, is another matter. Again, I don't have any quarrel with the teaching, and voluntary enrolment, in regional languages - Indonesian and Vietnamese would be my preferences, they are such beautiful languages.

But as any teacher will point out, there is only so much time in the school day, so what do you teach, above and beyond the essentials like the three Rs ?

As I wrote before, I am not an enthusiastic supporter of religious schools, or any sort. All children should get pretty much the same basic curriculum, anywhere in Australia. So as long as Catholic or Presbyterian or Muslim or Jewish schools thoroughly teach the basic curriculum, on public funds, that's OK with me.

All children should be introduced to basic communication - 'hello, how are you, good day, it is sunny/raining/snowing today, what's that you're eating, it looks delicious, not Vegemite sandwiches again, I've got a stomach ache, see you later, etc.' - in the major community languages in Australia, Greek, Italian, Spanish, Mandarin, Vietnamese, and modern Arabic, but depending to an extent on the particular part of Australia they are in - for example, in Brisbane, I would guess that a few words in Samoan or Maori wouldn't be any difficulty, or in Perth, a few words in Indonesian or Tamil of even Afrikaans as well.

And what children want to learn in their own time is up to them: I have no quarrel with the state funding Saturday morning community language teaching. In fact, I wish there was a lot more of it.

Joe

Iftakhad: t is wrong to assert that a small unrepresentative group of Muslim activists tried to Islamises a state primary school in Woking.
As I have asserted before. Islam is NOT a democratic system. It is a Theocratic System of Government. If a small unrepresentative group try to islamise a state primary school against the silent wishes of the majority of Muslim parents. I have to ask the question. Why are they silent? Is it because of the religious police who will pay them a visit if they speak out against the islamisation of the primary school? I think so.

Iftakhad: The silent majority of Muslim parents would like to send their children to state funded Muslim schools.

I really don’t know what the system is in the UK. Religious schools in Australia do receive some State & Federal funding.

Iftakhad: They are not extremists who want to change of ethos of those schools where Muslim children are in majority.

Unfortunately some are extremists & they do want to change the ethos. One in an interview even said so, because, as he said the UK belongs to Allah & therefore to Islam & the British will have to change. It’s in one of those videos links I gave you before.

Iftakhad: It is the democratic right of every Muslim parent to see that their children receive balanced education, so that when their children grow up, they do not find themselves cut off from their cultural roots and linguistic skills.

Interesting, using democracy against itself. How to undermine a State. I grew up in North Queensland with the influx of Italian migrants. They spent much of their time adopting Australian culture. They still spoke Italian at home & taught their parents English (Australian) My heritage is Scot, Irish, English, Danish, German, and French. I celebrate a Scottish New year, Paddy’s day, being Anglo-Saxon, not much in the way of Danish; German or French though on days when it’s time to celebrate them. But, importantly I’m Australian & can be somewhat ocker when the time warrants it. I can wear a Kilt, a coat & tie or Mess Dress as the occasion demands, so I haven’t lost my heritage even though its two generations removed.

Can Muslims adopt Australian heritage & also keep their Middle Eastern Heritage on days where it call for it. Or is Islamic culture so dominate as to override all other cultures as it is proving to do in the UK. I think so & that worries me. I am allowed to be worried.
Iftakhad: It is a question of common sense, humanity and reason that bilingual Muslim children must be educated in state funded Muslim schools with bilingual Muslim teachers as role models during their developmental periods.

Is it common sense? I personally I don’t think so. A small minority of people may differ. I believe those people would be radical Muslims. Most Australians would be against teaching primary state school children in Australia Arabic, Urdu or any other language out of the quran, which it would be taught from, as it happens, in Madras’s.

Cont.
Iftikhar: The whole world believes that people who speak more than one language is a vital economic asset. Pupils who speak more than one language do not cause difficulties.

I have no problem with children learning a second language of any description from a properly prescribed & authorised text book on the language as other languages are taught. I object to teaching out of the quran regardless of the language it is written in. I do believe that the only language the quran can be taught from is in Arabic. I May be wrong.

Iftikhar: It is the politicians and monolingual teachers who are the problems for bilingual pupils.

How is that? Mono linguistic teachers don’t teach languages. Language teachers teach languages.

Iftikhar: Muslim school will help to cultivate the child into a healthy, fully flourishing individual with a passion for learning.

And State Schools can’t do this? Of course they can.

Iftikhar: There are hundreds of state and church schools where Muslim children are in majority. In my opinion, all such schools may be opted out as Muslim Academies.

Turning these schools into Madras’s would in effect turn them into fundamental Academies. It has in Indonesia, Pakistan, and the Middle East & anywhere else there are Madras’s. Radical Clerics infiltrate & start the radicalisation process. That’s something that I wouldn’t like to see in Australia.

Iftikhar: Muslim faith schools are more or less bilingual schools.

Of course they are. But faith schools are Madras’s. They learn from the quran in Arabic.

Iftikhar: Priority will be given to the teaching of Standard English, Arabic, Urdu and other community languages. All Muslim children will learn and be well versed in Standard English and Quranic Arabic and at the same time they will learn and be well versed in one of the community language to keep in touch with their cultural roots and enjoy the beauty of their literature and poetry.

Quranic Arabic, from the quran along with the subversive & incompatable fundamentalist texts from the quran taught by Muslim Clerics.
Cont